


An Inefficient Aranngement

by north_star



Category: Ava's Demon
Genre: AU, F/M, odin being awkward
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-12
Updated: 2015-04-12
Packaged: 2018-03-22 11:26:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3727048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/north_star/pseuds/north_star
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ava is on her way to meet the man she's been betrothed to, hoping to escape the arrangement. Fate has other plans.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Inefficient Aranngement

**Author's Note:**

> this was inspired by an au prompt i read about somewhere on tumblr and originally posted there. im a pretty new writer so constructive criticism is welcome as well as general tips and suggestions. thanks for reading!

At this moment, Ava absolutely hated Wrathia. Of course, she hated Wrathia at a lot of moments, but at this particular one, her fury was far greater than usual. Her thin lips were pressed into a tight scowl, her eyes hidden behind her bangs. The carriage bounced over the irregular cobblestones, jolting Ava all over the bench. This only made her scowl harder.

 

“Oh, don’t look at me like that.” Wrathia sneered. “You should be grateful I even found somebody to agree to the arrangement,”

 

Ava didn’t reply.  
“Look, just a little longer and we’ll be off each other’s hands. For good,” Wrathia shrugged, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

 

“Yeah, but then I’ll be married to some guy I don’t even know!” Ava cried. Ever since her parents had died and she’d been taken in by Wrathia she’d been eagerly awaiting the day when she’d be old enough to leave the confines of her guardian’s home. But not like this. She had never asked for this.

 

Wrathia snorted. “The Arrows are a very affluent family and the fact that they even considered my offer is pretty damn fantastic. You’ll be well off with them.”

 

Ava didn’t comment that the Arrows were known not only for their eccentricity but their brutality and affinity for violence. Of course, she’d never met any of them, but she’d heard whispers at the parties Wrathia dragged her to. She doubted that the arranged marriage was done out of the goodness of their hearts. They surely had some sinister purpose planned for her. She just tugged on the itchy red dress Wrathia had forced her into and sighed. There was no point at inflicting Wrathia’s anger on her now.

 

The carriage came to a stop and the door was opened. They must have arrived at the Arrow manor. Ava took a deep breath and stepped out of the carriage. 

 

The house-if you could even call it that- was bigger than anything Ava could have ever imagined. It was dark and looming, with seemingly randomly placed gargoyles and- were those towers? Plural? Ava had lived the comfortable life of a city socialite with Wrathia but country mansions were completely unfamiliar to her. She looked over to see her guardian grinning evilly at her. Of course Wrathia was excited to get her reward, and seeing the manor just affirmed her hopes of a great one

.  
As they walked up to the door, with one of the family’s servants- the one who had opened the carriage door- leading them. Before the servant could even open the door, I was flung open from inside, with a raggedy looking girl greeting them.

 

“O-DINNN!” She hollered, after briefly glancing at Ava and Wrathia. “YOUR LADY’S HERE!” 

 

There were some scuffling noises from inside and a tall man came to the door.

Ava prayed to every god she could think of that this wasn’t Odin, the man she was betrothed to. He was old- in his mid 20’s at least- and tall, with sharp, menacing features.

It was all Ava could do to keep from screaming. Her fingernails dug into her sweaty palms, nearly breaking skin. She could do this. She could do this. She could-  
“Odin’s in the sitting room.” The man said in a low, almost inaudible voice. “You must be Ava,” he said, grinning at her. It was not a comforting smile. “I’m Pedri, Odin’s guardian.”  
“P-pleasure to meet you,” Ava said, staring at the ground, exhaling in relief.

 

“Why don’t you ladies come inside,” Pedri said, stepping aside. “Albert here will take your jackets,”

 

Ava shimmied out of her thick wool overcoat and followed Pedri and the girl into the sitting room, where her fate waited for her.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

At this moment, Odin absolutely hated Pedri. Of course, he hated Pedri often and was counting down the days until he could leave the manor and go live with his brother and Magpie. But Pedri had changed all of Odin’s plans when he announced the “wonderful arrangement” he’d set up with a friend of his, who had a girl about Odin’s age. Odin could still remember the look of cruel glee on Pedri’s face when he’d shared the news over dinner. Odin almost choked on his pork chop. Raven had practically fallen off her chair with laughter. Crow just rolled her eyes.

 

So here he was, wearing an ill-fitting suit, trying to get comfortable on the overstuffed sofa. Then Pedri and Crow walked in followed by her. 

 

Ava Ire.

 

She was small and delicate and Odin’s first instinct was to protect her but the angry grimace on her face told him otherwise. Her bright red dress only heightened the intensity of her burning hair and glowing eyes.

 

Odin gulped. He couldn’t get attached to her. He was leaving tonight and this girl was not coming with him.

 

“Well, I’m going to leave you two for a bit to get acquainted. Wrathia and I will be in the dining room,” Pedri said, walking off with a woman Odin hadn’t even noticed.

Ava sat down in the sofa across from him and stared at her hands, shaking visibly.

 

“Uh, h-hi. I’m Odin b-but I guess you f-figured that out by now,” He laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.  
Ava didn’t say anything.

 

“S-so what do y-you like to do?” He asked. He might as well try to be nice to the poor girl.

 

Again nothing.

 

“P-Pedri mentioned that you live in t-the city. What’s i-it like?”

 

Once again, not a peep. Ava was still staring at her hands, but now her whole body seemed to be vibrating.

 

Okay, he tried. You had to give him some credit.

 

“Ok look, I-I don’t want be here a-any more than y-you do but you c-can at least make an e-effort. W-we’re stuck together, l-like it or n-not!”

 

He was going to add more when Ava looked up at him, eyes blazing, tears streaming down her cheeks.

 

“Look mister!” She growled, trying to wipe the tears away, only to find more were coming out. “You might bend to the will of whoever but not me! I’m not marrying you, got it? I’m getting out of here as soon as I can and no one can stop me!”

 

Well, shit. 

 

Odin felt his heart beating faster in his chest.

 

Ava had buried her head in her hands now and was sobbing softly, her tiny body shaking. Not really aware of what he was doing, Odin stood up and walked over to the sofa Ava was sitting on. He-somewhat awkwardly- wrapped an arm around Ava. She leaned into him, probably not even realizing that she was doing to.  
“S-sorry. I s-shouldn’t have said that. I-I’m also really s-scared and…i-if you want, maybe w-we could leave t-together?” Odin could feel himself blushing.  
Ava looked up at him, her tears having finally stopped.  
“I-I mean, I-I already had a p-plan to leave t-tonight, but you don’t have t-to come…I’d u-understand if you didn’t want to.” Odin muttered, looking away

.  
“No,” Ava sniffed. “I’d love to,”

 

For the first time in forever, Ava Ire smiled.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was the dead of night. Ava sat on the edge of the bed in the guestroom, a small pack by her side. She was thinking about the events of the day- how Wrathia and Pedri had subjected them to an awkward dinner, the lively banter between Odin and his siblings, the way Odin smiled, his dark eyes looking right at her, Odin in his suit, Odin’s dark hair falling into his face…  
Her thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock on the door. It was Odin, dressed in all black, bag by his side.

 

“L-let’s go,” he whispered.

 

Ava nodded.

 

Later, as Ava followed Odin through the tunnels under the manner, she reached out and grabbed his hand, his fingers dwarfing hers. He didn’t look back at her, but his grip around her hand tightened. Ava grinned to herself, the second time within hours. Maybe Wrathia had been onto something with this whole arranged marriage thing.


End file.
